When I was younger, I was one of those kids who knew exactly what they wanted to be. When I grew up, I was going to be a doctor. There was no want or need, it was simply a fact for me that I would one day become a physician. This unrelenting desire made college applications easy, the first thing I would do when I started one was eagerly select biology from the list of majors. However, this passion came to a grinding halt when I actually started school at UMass Dartmouth. I still loved all of the science classes that I was taking, but when I went to advising and saw the plan that was laid out for me for the next for years, it immediately felt wrong. How was it possible that this list of courses was the perfect fit for all several hundred biology majors? The strictness of the plan in front of me felt suffocating. In my head, I immediately saw classes that filled me with excitement, classes that were three years out that I was already dreading and classes that I straight up did not think I needed. There were so many things that I wanted to learn in school, and getting a cookie cutter degree strictly in one discipline was not cutting it for me.. When I applied to transfer to Plymouth, I was yet again faced with the decision of what major I wanted, except this time there was no excitement. After seeing how specific and one track minded being a science major was, my confidence in my choice to be a biology major and my desire to be a doctor disappeared. This time, I chose a major with regards to the number of classes in the program that I knew would be interesting and important to me, and after looking at several program requirements, I chose criminology. However, in the middle of the spring semester of my sophomore year, I again realized that something was missing, so I added a second major- psychology. For a while, this combination of majors felt okay. It made sense for my career path (since giving up my long held desire to be a doctor, I had decided that I instead wanted to be a forensic psychologist), and I liked the classes that I was in at the time. It wasn’t until I realized that it was actually the human biology elective I was taking to fill a general education requirement that was my favorite class that semester, and yet again I was at a loss. Filled with confusion, I made an appointment with the career development center and furiously laid out an insane plan to have several majors and several minors. After listening to my passionate but fear filled rambling, the director of the career development smiled kindly at me and asked me if I had heard of the interdisciplinaries program. I had, but I’m embarrassed to admit that at the time I genuinely thought it was some cop-out degree that people who just wanted a random college degree got. After learning what it really was, I was hit with a sense of relief that I had been looking for since I started college. I could finally mix the parts of each degree that made sense to me in a way that also made sense for my goals. In creating my major, I have been able to mix the anatomy and physiology part of biology, the neuroscience part of psychology and the legal side of criminal justice that all make me genuinely excited to learn. In the future, I still plan on becoming a doctor (although I now plan on working towards a doctorate instead of an MD) and hope to use my knowledge of neuroscience and law in a career as an FBI behavioral analyst.
The classes I have chosen to take come from the psychology, biology, criminal justice departments. To complete my QRCO requirement, I took MA 2300 Statistics 1. In this class I received an introduction to statistics and was shown how it can be applied in a multitude of disciplines including all of the ones that I am studying now. In the psychology department, I started by taking PS 3320 Abnormal Psychology. This class provided me with an understanding of major psychological disorders, their causes, and possible treatments. In the future, this will be beneficial as a baseline for an understanding of behavior and psychopathology. I also plan to take PS 4350 Treatment of Psychological Disorders, which is a great continuation of Abnormal Psychology that will deepen my knowledge of treatment methods for psychological conditions. I am currently taking PS 3700 Psychology and Law, a class that is interdisciplinary in itself as it looks at the application of psychology in a legal context. This class is important because it provides a greater understanding of the legal system and legal procedure, and it also shows how legality can be interpreted from both a strictly law perspective and a psychological perspective. This course also focuses on subjects such as interrogation and eyewitness testimony, both of which I think will be helpful for my future career. Next semester, I plan on taking PS 3600 Behavioral Neuroscience. This class looks at the neuroanatomical side of psychology, focusing on the physiological explanations of behavior. This class will be helpful because it will provide me with a scientific perspective on behavior. The last class I will be taking from the psychology department is PS 3340 Personality, which is a class about the theories related to the development of personality and behavior. Because I want to be a behavior analyst, this class will provide an excellent starting point for graduate level studies. From the biology department, I will be taking BI 2110 and BI 2120 Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II as well as the corequisite labs. Both of these courses will provide a basic knowledge of the human body which will be helpful for later classes in neuroscience. I will also be taking BI 4780 Neurobiology, a class dedicate to the study of the vertebral nervous system. Because I want to study neuroscience in graduate school, this course will be helpful for understanding the physiology of the brain specifically. From the criminal justice department, I’ve included CJ 2040 Criminal Adjudication. In this class, I learned about legal procedure and got a basic knowledge of constitutional law, which I think everyone should learn about. It will be especially helpful for me as I hope to have a career as an FBI agent. In CJ 2080 Crime and Criminals, I learned about the major theories in criminology as well as a history of crime and the legal system. This class doubles as a sociology class and was taught by a faculty member in the sociology department, which gave me a different perspective on crime than I had gotten in my other criminal justice classes. In upcoming semesters, I plan on taking CJ 2090 Criminal Law in order to deepen my knowledge of law for the same reasons. I will also be taking CJ 3005 Criminal Investigation, which will prepare me for a career in law enforcement as it highlights the major aspects and processes involved with investigation crime. I also plan on doing an independent study in criminology (CJ 4910) where I hope to focus on criminal profiling or criminal behavior, which is specific to what I want to do in the future.
In addition, there are several other classes that I have taken or plan to take that are not included in my program that I think are important. This semester I am taking PODI 1045 Terrorism and Counterterrorism, which has been giving me a lot of insight about this specific type of crime and the reasons why people commit it. Next semester I plan on taking CJDI 1500 Profiling Criminal Behavior, which ties in very well with what I want to do career wise as it is a class about criminal behavior specifically. I also have taken an introductory class in both biology and psychology, which has given me a good foundation for upper level classes in both regards.
My program is interdisciplinary as it is made up of classes from three separate departments. Currently there is no major at Plymouth State that combines psychology, criminal justice and biology, and majoring in just one or two of those disciplines would not completely prepare me for the future. The field that I plan on going into is interdisciplinary itself, and therefore majoring in interdisciplinary studies is the best way to prepare me for the future. Furthermore, taking classes from several different departments has really enhanced my learning experience, as I am able to be more well rounded and look at issues with several different perspectives in mind. Ultimately, I hope to use this degree as a foundation to be able to pursue a graduate level education in behavior or neuroscience.
Update: As of 8/26/19, I have officially started my last year as an undergraduate at PSU and my third semester as an IDS student. Since I only took Introduction to IDS (the class where we create our programs) last semester, none of the classes in my contract have changed, however it is a huge relief to now be on a set path and to be taking required classes that will allow me to graduate on time with this degree. One thing that has changed since my application is that I have decided not to apply to graduate school this semester (for fall of 2020), and instead apply for a service year with either AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps. Earlier I had been debating applying and deferring, but ultimately I realized that waiting to apply would help fend off being burnt out. One thing that I learned last semester in taking PODI 1045 Terrorism and Counterterrorism was that I find terrorism very interesting and I think that I would like to work in counterterrorism at some point. I’m hoping to do some interdisciplinary research with neuropsychology/neuroscience and terrorism at some point in my career. The biggest change that I have seen in myself from last semester is that I am much more confident in my program and the direction that it is taking me in life, which is something that I am very grateful for. I can’t wait to graduate and show admissions counselors and employers how this degree has made me a versatile and knowledgeable student, and to apply everything that I have been working so hard to learn in my classes. Here’s to a great senior year!